The setting of human and artificial hair by drying, waving, and curling is a subject which has received considerable attention for several centuries. Presently, a variety of devices and methods are available on the market for curling or setting hair permanently or temporarily. For instance, a "permanent" wave or a "perm" is obtained by chemically treating and drying locks of hair while rolled in rollers or bobbins. Such permanent waves usually last from approximately several months to one year. However, for people who desire a more temporary hairstyle or setting, a multitude of devices also are currently available. Such devices include hot rollers, steam rollers, overnight hair rollers, and curling irons and are fabricated in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and materials for both professional and in-the-home hair treatment.
Since the advent of such temporary hair setting devices, means have been sought for accelerating the drying of wet hair on the rollers to obtain a curl having soft and natural characteristics. In a professional salon, the acceleration of roller-supported hair is usually accomplished by a hair dryer in the form of an air circulating bonnet which forces heated air over the rolled hair. The person receiving the hair treatment in a professional hair salon is usually seated under such a dryer until the desired degree of dryness is achieved. While functioning well to dry the hair, forced air hair dryers such as that just discussed are known to be undesirably confining and uncomfortable for the user since the bonnet immobilizes its user for a considerable length of time. In a home environment, a portable hair dryer is most commonly used for accelerating the drying of hair. However, the home-use hair dryer also confines a person to a limited area of movement due to the connection of the dryer to an electrical outlet for the power supply. Hence, conventional devices for drying hair often are known to be uncomfortable, immobilizing, and time consuming.
Hair drying roller apparatuses have previously been proposed as a means for drying hair simultaneously with other treatments such as curling, waving, body building, and the like. One example of such a proposed hair drying roller apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,255 of Mitsumoto. Mitsumoto shows a hygroscopic hair curler, which comprises a curler body and a U-shaped elongated clip to retain the rolled-up wet locks of hair on the curler body. The curler is a cylindrical, spool-shaped body including a layer of hygroscopic powder, dispersed on an interior portion of the roller. A fibrous material, which covers the hygroscopic powder serves as a transmission medium for allowing moisture from the hair to permeate to the hygroscopic powder layer.
Hygroscopic materials include materials such as silica gel, calcium chloride, kaolin, and the like. During a curling operation, moist locks of hair are rolled onto the cylindrical curlers and clipped by the U-shaped clip device whereupon moisture in the hair is absorbed by the hygroscopic powder of the curler to dry the wet locks of hair. Thus, when the hair is released from the curler by unfastening the clip, the locks of hair will retain their new rolled form until the hair is moistened or washed again.
Another apparatus for drying and curling hair simultaneously is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,490 of Grossman, wherein a plurality of pellets, which comprise a hair drying expediting material, are enclosed within a cylindrical porous roller. Such pellets are held therein by two opposite and opposed end caps which fit snugly into the ends of the cylindrical roller. The pellets are comprised of a clay material mixed with an absorbent natural silicate and a binder that holds the clay and the silica together. In use, the pellets are inserted into the hair roller and held therein by the end caps. Damp locks of wet hair are wound about the outer periphery of the roller and held thereon by generic clips or hair pins. As moisture is drawn out of the hair through the porous roller, the pellets dampen, thereby causing the pellets to emit heat. After the hair has been dried and curled, the pellets are removed from the hair roller and are allowed to dry, either by exposing them to heat or by drying at room temperature until the next hair setting treatment.
A similar apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,961 of Shaler et al.. wherein the hair roller itself comprises a sintered desiccant body of a hollow cylindrical configuration. The roller further includes a heat storage core of cylindrical shape and a material which covers the body of the desiccant roller. The heat storage core further defines a bore adapted therethrough which is able to receive a heating element or a pin for imparting heat into the core. The desiccant roller body of Shaler et al. is a self-sustaining hollow cylinder comprising a mass of desiccant granules, such as silica gel, which are held together by particles of binder, such as nylon. Furthermore, each granule is of irregular shape and is assembled to form the desired overall hollow cylindrical shape by means of a retaining form or mold. The Shaler et al. roller is used in a similar manner as the rollers of Mitsumoto and Grossman.
While these and other similar apparatuses have been somewhat successful in drying and curling hair simultaneously, they still tend to exhibit certain problems and shortcomings inherent in their respective designs. For instance, several of these apparatuses are used in conjunction with a generic pin or clip for holding the hair on the rollers. Such designs are shown in the patents of Mitsumoto and Grossman. With such a configuration, it is difficult to ensure uniform heat transfer from the desiccant in the hair rollers to certain portions of the hair. For example, when hair is wound about a roller from the ends of the hair to the roots of the hair, the hair ends adjacent the roller tend to dry and curl more rapidly than the portions of hair near its roots. Therefore, when the rollers are removed, there is a chance that the hair in the closest proximity to the roller will dry and form a natural curl shape and the hair furthest away from the roller, such as at its roots, will remain slightly damp and uncurled.
The device disclosed in the patent of Shaler et al. attempts to solve the above-discussed problem by providing an arcuate-shaped or C-shaped clamp for disposal over a lock of hair on the roller. The arc-shaped clamp further includes a sintered desiccant body therein for aiding in the drying of the exposed portions of hair. However, hard-to-curl portions of hair, such as hair between adjacent rollers on hair near the scalp might not contact either the roller or the arc-shaped clamp. Therefore, a chance exists that these hard-to-curl portions will still remain damp after the rollers are removed from the hair, thereby causing an uneven, unnatural curl setting.
Accordingly, there exists a continuing need for a hair drying roller apparatus for use in a professional salon or at home, with the apparatus being simple to use, inexpensive to produce, and is capable of fully drying and evenly curling all portions of the hair. It is to the provision of such a hair drying roller apparatus that the present invention is primarily directed.